1Ti 3:3, 8 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 3. Not given to wine . Marg., " Not ready to quarrel and offer wrong, as one in wine ." The Greek work (παροινος) occurs in the New Testament only here and in . It means, properly, by wine ; i.e., spoken of what takes place by or over wine , as revelry, drinking songs, etc. Then it denotes, as it does here, one who sits by wine; that is, who is in the habit of drinking it. It cannot be inferred, from the use of the word here, that wine was absolutely and entirely prohibited; for the word does not properly express that idea. It means that one who is in the habit of drinking wine, or who is accustomed to sit with those who indulge in it, should not be admitted to the ministry. The way in which the apostle mentions the subject here would lead us fairly to suppose that he did not mean to commend its use in any sense; that he regarded its use as dangerous, and that he would wish the ministers of religion to avoid it altogether. In regard to its use at all, except at the communion or as a medicine, it may be remarked, that a minister will do no injury to himself or others by letting it entirely alone; he may do injury by indulging in it. No man is under any obligation of courtesy or Christian duty to use it; thousands of ministers of the gospel have brought ruin on themselves, and disgrace on the ministry, by its use. , . No striker , he must be a peaceable, not a quarrelsome man. This is connected with the caution about the use of wine, probably, because that is commonly found to produce a spirit of contention and strife. Not greedy of filthy lucre . Not contentious or avaricious. Gr., Not desirous of base gain. The desire of this is condemned everywhere in the New Testament; but it is especially the duty of a minister of the gospel to be free from it. He has a right to a support, ; and following, but there is nothing that more certainly paralyzes the usefulness of a minister of the gospel than the love of money. There is an instinctive feeling in the human bosom that such a man ought to be actuated by a nobler and a purer principle. As avarice, moreover, is the great sin of the world--the sin that sways more hearts, and does more to hinder the progress of the gospel, than all others combined--it is important in the highest degree that the minister of religion should be an example of what men should be, and that he, by his whole life, should set his face against that which is the main obstruction to the progress of that gospel which he is appointed to preach. But patient . Modest, mild, gentle. See the word (Gr.) in , where it is rendered gentle . The word means that the minister of the gospel should be a man of mild and kind demeanour, such as his Master was. Not a brawler . Comp. . That is, he should not be a man given to contention, or apt to take up a quarrel. The Greek is, literally, Not disposed to fight . Not covetous , Gr., Not a lover of silver ; that is, of money. A man should not be put into the ministry who is characteristically a lover of money. Such a one, no matter what his talents may be, has no proper qualification for the office, and will do more harm than good. (1) "Not given to wine" "not ready to quarrel and offer wrong, as one on wine" (a) "not a brawler"

1 Timothy 3:3

Verse 3. Not given to wine. Marg., "Not ready to quarrel and offer wrong, as one in wine." The Greek work (παροινος) occurs in the New Testament only here and in Tit 1:7. It means, properly, by wine; i.e., spoken of what takes place by or over wine, as revelry, drinking songs, etc. Then it denotes, as it does here, one who sits by wine; that is, who is in the habit of drinking it. It cannot be inferred, from the use of the word here, that wine was absolutely and entirely prohibited; for the word does not properly express that idea. It means that one who is in the habit of drinking wine, or who is accustomed to sit with those who indulge in it, should not be admitted to the ministry. The way in which the apostle mentions the subject here would lead us fairly to suppose that he did not mean to commend its use in any sense; that he regarded its use as dangerous, and that he would wish the ministers of religion to avoid it altogether. In regard to its use at all, except at the communion or as a medicine, it may be remarked, that a minister will do no injury to himself or others by letting it entirely alone; he may do injury by indulging in it. No man is under any obligation of courtesy or Christian duty to use it; thousands of ministers of the gospel have brought ruin on themselves, and disgrace on the ministry, by its use. Mt 11:19, 1Timm 5:23.

No striker, he must be a peaceable, not a quarrelsome man. This is connected with the caution about the use of wine, probably, because that is commonly found to produce a spirit of contention and strife.

Not greedy of filthy lucre. Not contentious or avaricious. Gr., Not desirous of base gain. The desire of this is condemned everywhere in the New Testament; but it is especially the duty of a minister of the gospel to be free from it. He has a right to a support, 1Cor 9:1; and following, but there is nothing that more certainly paralyzes the usefulness of a minister of the gospel than the love of money. There is an instinctive feeling in the human bosom that such a man ought to be actuated by a nobler and a purer principle. As avarice, moreover, is the great sin of the world--the sin that sways more hearts, and does more to hinder the progress of the gospel, than all others combined--it is important in the highest degree that the minister of religion should be an example of what men should be, and that he, by his whole life, should set his face against that which is the main obstruction to the progress of that gospel which he is appointed to preach.

But patient. Modest, mild, gentle. See the word (Gr.) in Php 4:5, Tit 3:2, Jas 3:17, 1Pet 2:18, where it is rendered gentle. The word means that the minister of the gospel should be a man of mild and kind demeanour, such as his Master was.

Not a brawler. Comp. 2Ti 2:24. That is, he should not be a man given to contention, or apt to take up a quarrel. The Greek is, literally, Not disposed to fight.

Not covetous, Gr., Not a lover of silver; that is, of money. A man should not be put into the ministry who is characteristically a lover of money. Such a one, no matter what his talents may be, has no proper qualification for the office, and will do more harm than good.

(1) "Not given to wine" "not ready to quarrel and offer wrong, as one on wine"

(a) "not a brawler" 2Ti 2:24

1 Timothy 3:8

Verse 8. Likewise must the deacons. On the meaning of the word deacons, Php 1:1. On their appointment, Acts 6:1. The word here evidently denotes those who had charge of the temporal affairs of the church, the poor, etc. No qualifications are mentioned, implying that they were to be preachers of the gospel. In most respects, except in regard to preaching, their qualifications were to be the same as those of the bishops.

Be grave. Serious, sober-minded men. In Acts 6:3, it is said that they should be men of honest report. On the meaning of the word grave, 1Thes 3:4. They should be men, who, by their serious deportment, will inspire respect.

Not double-tongued. The word here used --διλογος does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It means, properly, uttering the same thing twice, (from δις and λεγω,) and then deceitful, or speaking one thing and meaning another. They should be men who can be relied on for tile exact truth of what they say, and for the exact fulfilment of their promises.

Not given to much wine. 1Thes 3:3. The word much is added here to what is said (1Timm 3:8) of the qualification of a bishop. It is not affirmed that it would be proper for the deacon, any more than the bishop, to indulge in the use of wine in small quantities, but it is affirmed that a man who is much given to the use of wine, ought not, on any consideration, to be a deacon. It may be remarked here, that this qualification was everywhere regarded as necessary for a minister of religion. Even the heathen priests, on entering a temple, did not drink wine.--Bloomfield. The use of wine, and of strong drinks of all kinds, was absolutely prohibited to the Jewish ministers of every rank, when they were about to engage in the service of God, Lev 10:9. Why should it, then, be any more proper for a Christian minister to drink wine, than for a Jewish or a heathen priest! Shall a minister of the gospel be less holy than they? Shall he have a feebler sense of the purity of his vocation? Shall he be less careful lest he expose himself to the possibility of conducting the services of religion in an irreverent and silly manner? Shall he venture to approach the altar of God under the influence of intoxicating drinks, when a sense of propriety restrained the heathen priest, and a solemn statute of Jehovah restrained the Jewish priest from doing it?

Not greedy of filthy lucre. 1Timm 3:3. The special reason why this qualification was important in the deacon was, that he would be intrusted with the funds of the church, and might be tempted to appropriate them to his own use, instead of the charitable purposes for which they were designed. See this illustrated in the case of Judas, Jn 12:6.

(a) "be grave" Acts 6:3 (b) "not given" 1Timm 3:3, Lev 10:9